Last Week of Summer

We had a glorious last week of summer.  It was nice to be at home.
We had some nice slow mornings--the boys like to wake up and read--and fun outdoor activities.

The Reading Chair--coveted for its warmth on the chilly mornings 

We enjoyed a wonderful temple date while the boys hung out with Aunt Janice and Uncle Dwayne.  Aunt Janice even took the boys swimming and made us supper.  We sure felt blessed.  Another night Ry, Will, and James went with the YM to the temple.  Another day James took the four oldest on a long hike in Waterton called Goat Lake.  They were troopers on the hike, he reported, and didn't really complain although it was a fairly advanced and strenuous hike.  They fished at the top although they didn't catch much.
Meanwhile, George and I enjoyed a day together.  We started out by sleeping in.  Wow, that was nice!  Then we went on a bike ride/run and stopped at several playgrounds along the way.  When we came back George wanted a booster juice for our "date" so we went there.  He talked about that all day.  He chose the Watermelon smoothie.  We went home to do some housework and George requested playing with dinosaurs and a runny cornstarch mixture we like to make and play with--we dyed it blue.  Our hands got pretty stained, and he thought it was funny.  After that we took off for the strawberry fields.  We just had time to pick 3 buckets worth (he only picked a few berries--I did the rest :-)) before a huge purple-black cloud came racing towards us and the hail and rain came pouring down!  Unfortunately my phone was in the car the whole time, so I wasn't able to get any pictures of the strawberry-stained hands, face, and clothes, the sweet hands picking berries from inside the leaves, and the cute little legs running up and down the rows of berries.  You can imagine it though, eh?  I got to hear Georgie's laugh a lot that day.  His laugh is like a magical waterfall.  It just gurgles and bubbles and makes you so happy.

We got caught up on dates with the twins--they were both overdue.  James and Will went to the driving range near our house and played a round of mini golf as well.  When they went to get back in the car it was totally out of gas.  They got to extend their date with a long uphill walk home.  James said it was nice to have the extra visiting time.  :-)

Can you see the three beaver noses making a "wave?"

Ryrie and I went birdwatching early one morning.  It was so beautiful down at the Wetlands.  I was praying for a special moment and we got it--not with birds though!  We saw three beavers!  They were swimming all over the place and even playing together.  We did see lots of geese and ducks, and Ry was pretty sure he saw a meadowlark.  Right at the end we spotted a couple of little sandpipers and a flock of starlings.  He said it was worth it.  :-)

Ryrie attempting to identify the ducks across the pond.  Our binoculars didn't work so well

On Friday I took the boys to the Birds of Prey Centre--one of the hot spots of Southern Alberta.  It was a beautiful day.  We got to see a Harris Hawk and a Bald Eagle fly for food.  That was pretty special.  We got a lot of questions answered by some really helpful staff.  We even got to give the eagles a shower (I didn't know that bald eagles LOVE being wet) and hold a cute adolescent great horned owl.  I was amazed by the fluffiness and beauty of the feathers.

We learned that eagles have an extra eyelid that enables them to see underwater

George's wingspan

The ducks were insistent.

After watching them for a bit, Georgie had a ton of fun chasing them down.  He would run-waddle after them until they went into the water.

George spraying down "Lincoln" the bald eagle

The owl was heavier than we expected

As the helper said, "It's not every day that you get to hold a wild animal!"